Med student and aspiring singer Devon Barley performed OneRepublic's 'Stop and Stare' on tonight's episode of 'The Voice.' Before he took the stage, he admitted that he has a guard up, but that he planned to strip everything away and let people see him for who he really is with his elimination performance. He did just that.

The slow and simple song was the right choice for Barley, who heeded his coach Adam Levine's advice by anchoring himself to his microphone stand during his performance. It was an excellent suggestion from Levine, as Barley even straddled the mic stand for a moment. While Barley was up there alone, it felt like he had some "support" and was like he wasn't up there alone since he handled the mic stand, eliminating some of the pressure of all eyes on him.

Barley was selling it and his confidence mounted with each passing note. The coaches kept commenting on how strong his voice was and how he was all they could fixate on, proving Levine's point!

We so dig Barley's nerdy shyness and he stepped out of his shell a bit with his performance tonight. His nerdy chic look (glasses, faux hawk, button-down shirt and tie, leather jacket) even caused Christina Aguilera to deem him "sexy." All the coaches agreed that he has an unexpectedly powerful voice. It was a terrific revenge of the nerd.